Colors
by autumnaura
Summary: The Gates of Hell have been broken and the Spirit Detectives have one month to round up the escaped spirits. The rewrite of Return of the Bat.
1. Snow White

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Chapter 1: Snow White

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**_"Mirror, mirror..."

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_

"I got a bad feeling about this," the tall spiritually sensitive carrot-top muttered for the seventh time since the four of them had entered at the abandoned warehouse.

The leader of the mismatched group rolled his shoulders cockily. "Why? This is a simple go-in-and-kick-demon-ass mission. Nothing to it!" he shouted, his voice echoing eerily in the building.

"Shut up," the shortest of them growled, his hand gripping his katana tightly.

Vibrant green, demonic eyes easily pierced the darkness, but could not discern anything. He ran a hand through his vivid red hair, "I have to agree. Something feels off."

There was a moment of silence as each tried to pinpoint the position of the demon they had been sent to capture. The creature's youki permeated the air making it impossible to track him through it. The four stood back to back as they waited.

"Are your Spidey senses tingly?" Yusuke joked trying to ease the tension in the air. He wouldn't normally consider himself spiritually aware, in possession of a Jagan Eye, or having 1000 plus years underneath his belt, but Yusuke knew something bad was going to happen.

Kurama was the first one affected.

He stiffened and his hand flew from his hair to mouth and noise. He dropped to his knees and started coughing violently.

"Fox?" Hiei called without turning to face his friend.

Kuwabara and Yusuke turned to face their fallen comrade, fear for their friend overriding any survival instincts. "Kurama, what's wrong?" Yusuke asked.

"Poison," Kurama said breathlessly. He gasped in air raggedly. "It's in the air. Everywhere. You're breathing it in as we speak," he panted.

Yusuke regained his feet. "Poison. Great. Koenma didn't mention that."

Kurama smiled weakly, "He didn't mention much."

"_Yusuke! Pay attention! This warehouse is a local hangout for teenagers, but lately many have been disappearing. We sensed a powerful youki in the area and I want you to check it out. Okay. Yusuke, are you listening?!"_

Taking his eyes off of Kurama momentarily, Yusuke peered around the room. "How come me, Kuwabara, and Hiei don't feel it?"

Kurama started coughing again so Hiei answered for him. "His nose is more sensitive than ours. Stay on your guard."

Kuwabara frowned, "Shouldn't we help him. You know, get him out of here or something?"

Hiei grew edgier. "No time. It's here," he answered shortly. The last part was punctuated with a glowing from beneath the fire demon's headband. He started coughing, though not nearly as much as the redhead.

"Whe—"

"Move!" Hiei snarled just as long, scaly tail lashed out from the shadows. Yusuke barely avoided being hit by the crimson appendage. He rolled out of the way as it returned. He couldn't see it! Where was it coming from?

The whole warehouse was illuminated when a giant fireball was projected from in front of Yusuke. As he dropped to the ground to evade it, he processed what he had seen in his brief glimpse. They were fighting a red turtle with a long tail. Strange purple gas was being produced from the spikes on the shell.

The fire landed on some crates behind Yusuke. He wearily climbed to his feet and lifted his hand to prepare for the spirit gun, knowing that the demon was directly in front of him despite the lack of lighting, Yusuke gathered energy into the tip of his finger.

Well, he tried.

The spirit energy sparked weakly and disappeared, leaving only a thin trail smoke in its stead. What—oh, no. The poison. It was affecting his spirit energy. He rolled out of the way as another fireball was hurled his way.

In the brief lighting Yusuke saw where his friends were. Kuwabara was backed into a corner, his spirit sword nothing more than a dagger, battling against the tail. Kurama's face was sallow and he looked ready to collapse. Hiei stood between him and the demon. He was leaning heavily on his sword, breathing raggedly.

Yusuke charged the turtle recklessly. Aiming a punch for the large demon's underbelly he struck. The teenager jumped back, holding his throbbing hand. "Damn! What's the hell is he made of?" he cursed in pain. "I mea—"

The tail slammed into him effectively cutting off any other words he had. He crashed through the opposite wall and collapsed on the hard concrete surrounding the building. He suddenly felt a rush through him as his spirit energy returned in a surge.

Fresh air. It was getting rid of the poison. Grinning, Yusuke recollected energy into the tip of his finger. Time for this bastard to die. He fired.

The tail whipped back around and intercepted the shot. The spirit energy bounced harmlessly off the metallic scales and careened towards Kuwabara who sluggishly avoided being hit. The tall boy ran over to Yusuke.

"Watch where you're firing that thing Urameshi!" he shouted. He gasped and stepped back when his spirit dagger grew triple its size with the return of his energy. "What the hell?!"

Still grinning Yusuke said, "It's the air. I think it's getting our spirit energy back. I'm gonna fire a hole in the wall next to Kurama and Hiei." He took aim again, "Spirit Gun!"

The energy crashed through the wall and blew a large hole in it. Hiei threw an irritated look towards the smirking brunette and dragged Kurama towards the hole. The poisoned fox helped as best he could, which wasn't much.

Kuwabara ran up to the shelled demon and struck it. Sparks flew from the hit. His spirit sword had the same effect as Yusuke's spirit gun. He returned to Yusuke's side.

"Shit. Nothing we do seems to have any effect on this thing," Yusuke said. He started backing up when the turtle demon focused on the two of them and started towards them. "Oh, shit. Where are those two when you need them," he muttered about his demonic companions.

"_Detective_! _Oaf_! _Get_ _down_!" the Jaganshi's voice said reverberating through their minds. Once again, they dropped to the ground. Yusuke saw a sadistic grin alight on the fire demon's face as threw a fireball at their enemy.

"Does the shrimp really think fire going to hurt that guy?" Kuwabara grumbled from the ground just as the fireball collided with the demon. There was an explosion so loud Yusuke was momentarily deaf.

The world went white…

Yusuke pushed the remains of the warehouse off of him. Kuwabara stood up next to him. He was covered in some purple goo. So was Yusuke. "What the hell was that?! And what the hell is this?!" Yusuke exclaimed indicating the goop he was plastered in.

He heard a soft chuckle behind him and he turned around along with Kuwabara. Kurama and Hiei stood behind them. The reincarnated fox demon was leaning heavily on the fire demon. They too were covered in the purple stuff. "This," he held up a handful of the ooze, "would be the insides of the demon."

Yusuke made a disgusted face and Kuwabara turned slightly green. "We're covered in demon guts!" He turned and looked at Hiei, "What the hell did you do to it?"

Hiei snorted and Kurama answered for him, "That specific type of turtle demon is very rare in Makai because of its tendency to explode when its shell or more specifically the noxious gas it produces comes in contact with fire."

"Oh," Yusuke said, "Okay, that doesn't make any sense."

Kurama laughed and simplified his explanation, "Fire makes those turtle demons blow up."

"Oh," Kuwabara and Yusuke said in understanding.

Yusuke shook his head in bewilderment, "Why didn't you say that the first time." Kurama opened his mouth but closed it before he said anything. The clueless brunette whipped out his pink communicator, "I'll just tell Botan we kicked that demon's ass." As he waited for the grim reaper to answer he looked at the still pale fox, "Hey, Kurama, you gonna be okay?"

He nodded, "Yes. Once the demon dies the poison becomes ineffective. I just need to pass the poison through my system. I'll be perfectly fine in a few days."

Botan's cheery yet urgent voice cut off any further communication, "Yusuke! Come in Yusuke. Koenma just told me that the demon you're fighting is a rare type of turtle demon that produces poisonous gas."

Yusuke growled and put the little pink communicator up to his face, "Yeah! You're a little late with that info, you know."

She laughed nervously, "Oh…"

0o0o0o0o0

The childlike ruler of the Spirit World was stamping the last of some very important papers when one of his veteran ferry girls came skipping into the room with a stack of more papers. He felt a vein appear on his head as he saw the papers.

"Lord Koenma, Yusuke took out that turtle demon," Botan said merrily as she placed the large pile papers on his dwindling stack. She leaned on the precarious stack ignoring the glares her boss was sending her. "You know, I think Spirit World needs to work on ability to acquire information. One of these days Yusuke is going to face someone and need the information and—"

"You think I don't know that!" Koenma shrieked. "I've already talked to my father about. I'm working on it!"

Botan sniffed in indignation, "Well, there's no need to yell. I was just making conversation." She moved away from the papers he was forced to spend all his time stamping. It toppled over from the sudden loss of weight. She smiled uneasily, "Whoopsie."

Koenma's jaw dropped in disbelief, "Oh, no. They've mixed with the ones I've already stamped." An ogre came in with more papers. "No!" he screeched. "No, more papers. I don't want to stamp anymore!" He jumped on top of his desk in anger.

The red _oni_ started backing away from his boss. Botan thought he had the right idea started to make a strategic retreat as well. The ogre was suddenly pushed to the ground when the door opened abruptly.

A blonde ferry girl ran in fear etched all across her face. Her blue eyes were wide and her hair was coming out of her ponytail. Through the open door the three occupants of the room could clearly hear the screams.

Koenma turned from spoiled brat to ruler in an instant. He floated over to the frightened ferry girl. "Emily, what's happening out there?"

"L-lord Koenma, there was a thief. H-he stole the Sylvan Staff."

"What?! What of—" he cut himself off at the abrupt stop of all of the screams. The four occupants of the room blanched when they heard the familiar heavy footsteps. Koenma quickly lowered himself to the floor and into a deep bow as did the rest of them.

"Koenma," a deep voice intoned from above.

The toddler risked a quick look above, but just as quickly lowered his head again. "Yes, Father?"

King Enma started off softly, but his voice quickly rose to a roar with every word, "Please explain why another one of my vaults has been broken into, another item has been stolen from _Reikai_, spirits are returning to the Living World, and why demons are running around _my_ hallways killing the _oni_ and then going down into _Ningenkai_!"

Koenma flinched. That was news to him. He threw a look to Emily, but she was staring at the floor intently. Looking to his other side he saw Botan. She was looking at him with encouragement in her eyes and despair on her face. He wouldn't be surprised if his own face mirrored hers.

"Well?!"

He flinched again, "I'm just learning of this, but if you give me—"

"You're just learning of this!" the actual Spirit World ruler bellowed, "What were you planning to do?!" His voice grew dangerously soft, "You know what must be done."

Koenma jumped to his feet in protest knowing the harsh way his father would go about taking care of the problem. "No! Please don't Father. I'll get the ferry girls and my Spirit Detectives on it. Just give me some time."

"How much time would you need," the lord asked sarcastically.

Koenma looked back at Emily mentally asking her how bad the problem really was. She hunched her shoulders and stared more intently at the floor. He thought quickly. Some demons and spirits got loose and there was a thief. Not too bad. The ferry girls could get the spirits and the Yusuke could round up the demons. Leave a couple of extra weeks for the item retrieval and..."Six months." He hoped he had guessed correctly.

His father let out a booming laugh that rattled the foundations of Reikai and sent a shiver down Koenma's spine. "I'll give you one month to collect all the lost spirits, fix the Gates of Hell, and recapture all the demons that have escaped. And _if_ you should fail I will have to destroy Tokyo and any other places this infestation has spread to. Understand?"

The Gates were broken? Koenma nodded numbly. There was going to be more than a few demons and spirits to recapture. And he only had one month. Never before had Koenma ever felt his 700 years more than then.

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**Word Count**: 2220

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**Disclaimer**: I, autumnaura, do not and never will own the rights or the characters of Yu Yu Hakusho, which belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.

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**Note**: **_Return of the __Bat_** will be deleted as soon as I update **_Running...Dogs_**. This is just fair warning. This is kind of my rewrite of **_Return_** _**of**_ **_the_** _**Bat**_. I wouldn't say it completely revolves around Kuronue, but he plays a pretty important role in this fic. Check it out if you want to see a kind of sneak preview of later chapters of this fic.

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There will be hints of Yusuke/Keiko and Kuwabara/Yukina and that's it. 

If you have any suggestions on who should/shouldn't come back from the dead please tell me. I would say this takes place a little after the Dark Tournament.

Oh, and please tell me what you thought of the battle scene at the beginning. I don't have much experience with them, yet most if not all my stories require at least one big battle. -.-' So tell me how I did.


	2. Blood Red

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Chapter 2: Blood Red

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**_"…on the wall."

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_

Kurama awoke with a jolt, every muscle in his body screaming with tension. There was a demon close by. His green eyes quickly scanned the room and saw that it was empty. He was lying on a futon in a completely bare room.

As the blankets bunched around his lap he realized his was naked. The door opened and Yukina walked in carrying some clothes.

"Oh! I didn't know you were awake. I just came in here to check on you," she said with a smile.

Kurama sighed and forced himself to relax. His skittering heartbeat calmed as he realized the demon he had sensed was the soft-spoken Koorime. "Yes…what happened? I remember the demon was defeated and…"

"And Hiei-_san_ was helping you back to your house when you collapsed. He brought you here to rest," Yukina finished for him. She handed him the clothes and sat down next to him. Her red eyes looked at him with concern, "So how are you feeling? Any dizziness?"

He stood and got dressed quickly, displaying no modesty. Neither did she. "No dizziness, I'm," his eyes widened, "oh, no. My mother. She must be worried about me. I have to—"

Yukina covered her mouth as she giggled. "Calm down Kurama. Master Genkai called as Yusuke's grandmother and said you had fallen asleep over at his house. Your mother was very understanding," she said reassuringly.

"Oh, thank you," he sighed again. "Perhaps I should be heading home now. I'm fine really," he said when she opened her mouth to protest. "Besides there isn't anything you can do for me."

She nodded, "That is true, but Kazuma called and said he and Yusuke were on their way to see how you were doing."

He stretched and winced as he heard his back crack. "Well I suppose there is nothing to do, but wait." He looked at her, "Yukina how is your garden doing?"

Her crimson eyes widened in delight. "Come on and I'll show you," she said enthusiastically.

The reincarnated fox demon followed the short Koorime out of the temple and into her garden. She showed him all the changes she had made since he had last visited and he assisted her with the weeding.

And that was how Kuwabara and Yusuke found them.

"Looks like your feeling better Fox-boy," Yusuke shouted from the open temple door.

"Yukina-_san_!" the tall, lanky boy ran over to the girl of his dreams. She stood up to greet him calling out a soft welcome to Yusuke as well.

"Yusuke, Kuwabara," Kurama called out in greeting, rising to his feet. "How are you?" he inquired politely.

Yusuke waved his question away, "Che, we should be asking you that."

He smiled, "I'm fine. It's nothing a couple of days at home won't fix."

The detective plopped down lazily on the ground and the fox followed him gracefully. "You know, Kurama, I personally think we deserve a break. Especially since Koenma tried to give us info _after_ we killed the demon. Sometimes I don't know what we do without you," Yusuke said with a grin.

"You and the fool would probably die," a deep voice said from above.

All four looked up to see Hiei standing not far from where everyone was sitting. Kuwabara glared and recaptured the ice maiden's attention after she said hello to the new arrival.

Kurama smiled teasingly, "Hiei, did you come to check on me? I didn't know you cared." Yusuke started laughing and the fire demon's glare deepened.

"Don't flatter yourself, Fox. There's a disturbance."

Yusuke sighed and laid down on his back. "It's a shame I don't much care, Hiei. I'm officially on vacation and there isn't anything you or anyone else can do about it."

"Calm yourself Detective. There's a disturbance in the air. I feel it. Don't you?"

Kurama cocked his head to the side and tried to feel what had disturbed Hiei so much, but he couldn't. Then again, his energy was still recovering from the poison. Wait, what was—

"Hey down there! Heads up!"

Everyone on the ground looked up. Yusuke said some expletive and scrambled out of the way, Kurama quickly got to his feet, and Hiei flitted to the other side of Yukina as a blonde girl riding on an oar came hurtling towards the ground at an alarming rate. She screamed shrilly and crashed into the ground.

Botan easily floated down next to her.

The girl got to her feet with a groan and shook her head slowly. "Owww. If I'm dead aren't I _not_ supposed to feel pain?"

Botan looked at her curiously, "Well who told you that lie."

"I don't—" she shrieked and hid behind the blue-haired ferry girl. "Demons! I thought we were going to see your Spirit Detectives," she accused. "Shouldn't you kill them or at least arrest them?"

Botan sighed in exasperation, "Emily, with the exception of Yukina," the Koorime waved cautiously, "these are my Spirit Detectives. That's Yusuke, Kurama, Hiei, and Kuwabara," she pointed to each as she said their name.

"Oh," she slowly came out of hiding, "are they good demons?"

"No such thing," Hiei growled before disappearing only to later reappear in a tree not far from where everyone was sitting. After his 'speech' Emily squeaked and hid behind Botan's kimono again.

The ferry girl rolled her amethyst eyes and said in an exasperated voice, "Forgive her, she's new and I'm supposed to be training her. Anyway, that's not what I came to tell you."

Yusuke jumped up and started shaking his head vehemently, "Uh-uh. I know what you're going to say and I'm not going on another mission. I _just _got back and if I leave again Keiko's going to kill me." Botan opened her mouth, but he cut her off before she could say anything, "And besides Kurama is still injured from the last fight." He crossed his arms stubbornly, "Ain't no way."

Botan growled and balled her hands into a fist. "Yusuke shut up and listen to me!" she shouted. "This isn't one of your regular missions. The Gates of Hell have been broken! Do you have any clue what that means."

"Uh, you need a really big handyman?"

Emily peeked at him around Botan's kimono and said dubiously, "_This_ is your Spirit Detective?"

He scowled fiercely and approached the girl, "Hey! Who do you think you are! Of course I'm the Spirit Detective. The leader, actually, and the best there is. And I could kick your ass anytime."

Kuwabara jumped to his feet and shouted, "Urameshi, you shouldn't be threatening a girl!"

"Would you listen to me!" Botan shouted. That got all their attention. She took a deep breath and sighed. "The Gates of Hell have been broken and that means that spirits have been release into the Living World." Yusuke still didn't seem to grasp the magnitude of the statement. Kurama's eyes, however, were wide and Yukina was whispering to Kuwabara.

"Human spirits that the ferry girls have already ferried will have returned. Humans with a slightly higher than average spirit awareness will easily see them with all the energy in the air." Yusuke shrugged carelessly.

"That doesn't sound like my problem."

Botan made an unintelligible sound and continued, "Demons that have been killed in Makai are coming into the Living World. Demons _you_ have killed are coming into the Living World. Is it starting to sound like your problem yet?"

Yusuke blinked, "Uh, yeah. Just a bit."

Botan held up a finger, "And, you also have to find the Sylvan Staff. Uh, we're not to sure what it can do, but it _must_ be found. We don't know who stole it either." She frowned, "I guess we don't know much about that."

Yusuke grunted, "That's not a surprise."

"That's not the worst part, though," Emily said in an eerie tone. "King Enma said he would blow up Tokyo and in other problem town if you guys don't find all the missing spirits and the Sylvan Staff. And you only have one month to do it."

Yusuke blinked again. "If all these demons are really back then how come none have attacked yet?"

Botan clenched her hand into a fist, but refrained from hitting the leader of the Spirit Detectives over the head. "You idiot! Do you think I'm making this up! There are a couple of reasons why they might not have attacked yet.

The more powerful demons will need time to regain there solid forms most likely they're just wandering spirits. It will also take time for them to regain their _youki_. Weaker demons don't generally attack stronger demons. Perhaps you should listen to the news you might hear things about abnormally large spiders or something."

"Oh."

"Yusuke would you just do your job for once," Botan said with a finalizing air.

0O0

The dark haired bat demon opened his blue eyes slowly. Sitting up carefully, he took in his surroundings. He must be in some kind of forest, since he was completely surrounded by trees. He gracefully rolled to his feet.

The demon was wearing black pants with skirt-like thing fluttering in nonexistent wind. He had on a low cut black shirt that stopped a few inches shy of his navel. Black straps were wrapped around his arms all the way up to his biceps. His obsidian hair was pulled into a high ponytail that was pulled through the hat on his head.

The demon's ears twitched and he cocked his head as he listened. He heard some non-threatening singing coming from birds. And footsteps. He heard footsteps. Lots of them, but they seemed to be coming from someplace pretty far away. The feet were echoing off a hard substance, like rock, so that meant he was near the edge of the forest. Where was he?

He took a few hesitant steps forward before breaking into a run. Not long after he came to the place where the forest met some strange stone-like substance. There were _things_ walking on it, going about their business. They were hornless, wingless, tailless _things_. They were…

_Ningens_.

He slowly sank to his knees. Where was he? How did he get there? _Who_ was he? All questions he had no answer for. He fisted his hands and got back to his feet. Well he was just going to have to find out the answers to them.

He watched the _ningens_ as they walked passed him. Studying them, he discovered they couldn't see him. They were completely oblivious to him. A particularly loud group of _ningens_ caught his attention.

They were all short and appeared male. He would put them at a relatively early age. But then again, for all he knew about _ningens_ they could be approaching old age. Their leader was a brown haired boy who was carrying a round object. As they walked pass him he listened to what they were saying.

"Oh man. I'm dead. I'm so dead," a dark haired boy said. "I was supposed to be home an hour ago."

Another boy spoke, "Just tell them you were playing soccer and you took off your watch so it wouldn't get broken. Then tell 'em you lost track of time. My parents always buy that."

"Naw my mom won't believe that. Hell, she never believes anything I say." He turned to the leader, "What are you going to tell your parents."

He tossed the 'soccer?' up into the air and caught it easily, "My dad and step-mom went out to dinner. I'm supposed to be home with my step-brother. He's pretty cool. He doesn't really care when I come home."

The demon kept the trees, but followed them.

Everyone started to laugh. The first boy turned around and started walking backwards. "No way. _Your_ step-brother doesn't care. Have you forgotten who your step-brother is? If he were my step-brother I'd be home _early_. I bet he tells your dad if you're even a minute late."

The brunette started to shake his head. "Nope. Sometimes when he's supposed to be watching me he leaves and is gone all night. It's like an unspoken rule. I cover for him and he covers for me."

A shorter brown haired kid grabbed the leader by his shirt. "Hey! Does he have a girlfriend? My sister has been nagging me to ask you. Come on. Spill. Is that where he goes?"

He shrugged. "I don't know if he has girlfriend. He hasn't brought anyone to the house that I know of." He stopped and turned in a different direction. "Bye guys." Everyone said there goodbyes and the leader went down another street.

The bat demon deliberated shortly before going down the street after the brunette. Who was this kid and why did he feel like he had to follow him? He sighed in frustration. Great more questions.

The _ningen_ turned down another street. This one was treeless, unfortunately, so the dark-haired demon lost his cover. He took to the air and flew behind the brunette. He could tell he was making the _ningen_ nervous. He kept glancing behind him. Smirking slightly he swooped lower wondering what would happen if he touched the boy. The boy glanced behind him again.

And stared straight into the bat demon's blue eyes. Who was more shocked would be hard to tell. The demon cursed and flew higher, but the boy's eyes followed him. To startled to do more, the demon watched as the _ningen_ took off down the street.

As he watched the brunette he felt as if he had missed something. He vowed to find the _ningen_ in the morning and finally get some answers. With a last look down the street the bat demon took to the sky and flew off.

0O0

Kurama patted the dirt where he had planted his latest guard-plant next to the stairs that lead to the front door. He stood up and dusted the dirt off his plants. With all the demons running around he wanted his family to have some protection. Now to convince them to stay home…

"Shuichi!"

He looked up at the sound of his human name being called so frantically. His step-brother was running towards desperately. When the boy finally reached him he almost collapsed on the stairs.

"Shuichi, I saw…a…uh…and it was…wings…blue eyes…ears," the boy gasped out unintelligibly.

Kurama frowned, "Shuu, calm down. I can't understand you."

"I was being followed by a weird guy-thing! He had pointy ears and fangs. And he had wings!" Kurama's eyes narrowed and Shuuichi misinterpreted it, "I'm not making this up, Shuichi, I swear."

Kurama reached behind him and opened the door. "I believe you. Go inside and stay there until I come back. If anyone comes into the house besides me go into the garden. Do you understand," he said in a voice that offered no argument. He got none from the terrified boy.

Kurama searched up and down the street, but found no trace of the demon that had followed his step-brother. He reluctantly returned home.

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**Word** **Count**: 2426

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**Notes**: Does anybody want to beta this story. It will be super helpful. 

Much thanks to **Golden Vixen** because without her I can honestly say you guys would still be waiting on me to update.

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I'm having a vote. Who do you want to come back. If you have someone you wanted added to the list leave it in a review. Kuronue is a given.

Karasu  
Hina  
Suzaku


	3. Sunset Pink

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Chapter 3: Sunset Pink

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**"_You know nothing…_"

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It was only when Shuuichi was safely tucked away in the house that he cursed himself for being a coward. He had sent his step-brother outside to find some, some demonic creature. He had sent his _girly_ step-brother out there. 

"Damn," he swore. He went into the kitchen and started rifling through the drawers in search of some sort of weapon; he was going to help Shuichi. He pulled out a sharp knife and held it up to the light.

"What are you doing?"

He gasped and whirled around, the knife falling from his hand with his rapid movement. Shuichi stood behind him. "Crap, Shuichi. You scared me." He processed that his brother was back. "Did you see it?" he asked eagerly as he bent down and retrieved the dropped knife.

Shuichi sighed and absently ran a hand through his hair as he stared uneasily at the knife. What was his problem? "No, I didn't see it," he said softly. He motioned for Shuu to come forward, "Why don't you go to bed? It's been a long night. You'll feel better in the morning."

Shuu balked, but eventually started forward, "Okay, but I didn't make this up. I really saw it. You believe me don't you?"

Shuichi's green eyes were troubled, but he smiled anyway, "Of course I believe you. Now go to bed." Shuu obediently followed his older brother to their bedrooms, which were across the hall from each other; Shuu was on the right and Shuichi was on the left. Just as Shuu was about to go into his room, Shuichi stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder. "Shuu I think it's best you don't tell Mother and Kazuya about this."

"Why?" he demanded.

"It will worry them needlessly. And if they believe someone is—was following you then they might call the police. I don't think they will be as…open-minded as I. Do you understand?"

Shuu glared, but relented. Shuichi was right. Just like always. "Fine, whatever." He sulkily went into his room. As he turned on the light, he half expected the winged man to be in the room, but it was empty. Groaning at his paranoia the brunette collapsed wearily on his bed. He was soon asleep.

0O0

After Kurama had sent his brother to his room, he went out to his garden and upped his security, so to speak. He planted a Canine Tree outside his brother's window. It was like the Death Tree, to a lesser extent. He doubted Koenma would enjoy him unleashing _that_ upon the human masses. He bit his lip as he went inside to gather articles of his family's clothing to feed to it. Kuronue had given him the plant. Giving the clothing to tree, his thoughts turned to his deceased partner.

Deceased…dead…death…Kuronue. He stifled a gasp. What if… A shadow passed over him. He looked up sharply. "Ku—Hiei!" he hid his disappointment. "What are you doing here?"

The short fire demon glared at him, "Your energy levels are low," he said shortly. "You're almost as helpless as a _ningen_."

Kurama's eyebrows lowered and he turned his back on his friend, "I am aware of the status of my energy levels. You do realize that we fought that turtle demon yesterday. Forgive me if I haven't had time to completely recuperate."

"I know when we fought that demon," Hiei growled. "With our current mission, we need you at your best."

Kurama's eyes narrowed. He didn't need Hiei to check up on him or remind him of the mission. He knew what was at stake. "Thank you, Hiei," he said coldly.

"Hn." Kurama turned around; Hiei was gone.

The redhead sighed. He supposed he had been a little harsh with Hiei. What the fire demon had said was true. His energy levels were weak and he was going to need them if he was going to assist in recapturing the escaped demons.

Going over to his rosebushes, he sat down. At ten years of age, after he had decided to stay in the Human World, Kurama had marked his territory with his energy. The land was saturated with his energy so he could replenish some of his _youki_ there.

Letting out a contented sigh when the buds wrapped around him, turning just right so their thorns didn't harm him, Kurama soaked up as much _youki_ as he could without causing them to wither.

0O0

Shuu Hatanaka waved goodbye to his brother as they went in different directions to their schools. As soon as Shuichi turned the corner and disappeared from sight, Shuu ducked into trees he and his friends had passed last night. That was when he had started to feel someone watching him.

He had to find that thing, just to make sure he wasn't going crazy. He wandered around for about an hour when he felt a chill. He looked around frantically. Where was it?

The brown haired boy looked up and gasped. Crouching in the tree above him was the creature from the previous night. His blue eyes stared into his, the gaze unwavering. Shuu jerked backward as he tried to escape from him. In his efforts, he stumbled over a tree root and fell to the ground.

The thing jumped out of the tree and landed in front of Shuu. The boy picked up the closest item he could find, a rock, and threw it at his stalker. The winged creature lifted his hand to intercept the rock, but it passed right through him. It skittered harmlessly to a halt behind him.

He stared at the creature and he stared back. The brunette sat up slowly, all the while watching the other closely. He crossed his legs unconsciously and gathered his courage. "You're a ghost?"

The ghost mirrored Shuu's sitting position and snorted contemptuously. He responded in a deep, slightly raspy voice, "Hardly. I'm a demon--a bat demon. But I couldn't tell you why I don't currently have a solid form."

A demon! Shuu frowned and broke eye contact, fidgeting under the demon's gaze. "Oh. D-do you eat h-h-humans?" the brunette asked, biting his lip as he waited for the answer.

The bat demon threw up his hands in exasperation, "Why is it that every human I meet is so conceited as to think they actually taste _good_. I've tried it once and that's enough for me. Bleh."

"Oh…" He looked up. The dark-haired demon was still looking at him unblinkingly. He shifted again. "Uh, I'm Shuuichi. Everyone calls me Shuu though. What's your name?"

The bat demon stretched out on his back with a sigh. "I honestly have no clue. I don't remember anything about my past."

Shuu scooted forward a little, "Nothing?"

His voice was lower and hesitant. "I remember…death, a fox, and…a pendant?" He gave a frustrated sigh and sat up abruptly, startling Shuu, "That's it. That's all I can remember."

The brunette started fidgeting again. He couldn't imagine not knowing his past. It must be very disconcerting. He then made a decision that he hoped he wouldn't regret later, "Do…do you want to come to my house? Just until you get your memory back."

0O0

Kurama was late for school. He had left the house early enough to not be late, but he was detoured by some minor fly demons. He had some difficulties accessing his _youki_, which had him worried. He thought meditating in the garden would have helped, but he seemed to be steadily losing energy.

He briefly considered skipping school, but quickly discarded the idea. If he planned on taking the rest of the month off he would need to get his assignments. He didn't want to fall behind in school and worry his mother needlessly.

Kurama opened the door of his classroom and watched every eye turn to face him. His pudgy teacher stood up with a grunt.

"Shuichi, you're late," he admonished.

Kurama walked over to the desk ignoring the stares of his classmates. "Forgive me, sir," he replied softly. He placed his books on the desk to steady him. "There is no excuse for my tardiness. I apologize for interrupting the class," he said skillfully.

Appeased Mr. Yakanawa nodded and sat down with a grunt, waving away Kurama's apology. "It's alright, I suppose. Just don't make this a habit, okay? While you're up, though, could you pass out these quizzes?"

Amid all the groans of his classmates, Kurama nodded patiently as Mr. Yakanawa bent over to open the last drawer of his desk. Kurama's sensitive ears heard the rasp of the drawer opening and a faintly familiar clacking noise.

Mr. Yakanawa jumped up with agility surprising for a man his size and let out a shriek that was similar to a woman's. Kurama's hands flew to his ears at the sound. Good Inari that _hurt_.

Kurama's rather large teacher was cowering in his chair, staring fearfully at something in his drawer. The redhead, with a slightly contemptuous frown, walked around the desk to see what it was.

It was a _Akaiari_, red ant demon. It had the appearance of a foot long fire ant with mandibles strong enough to crush a human hand. Its beady black eyes darted around feverishly. Seeing Kurama and mistaking him for a normal human, the redhead could see the delight, along with hunger, alight in its eye.

"What is it?" a student called from his desk.

Mr. Yakanawa pointed fearfully at the ant demon and stuttered, "It's a-a-a b-b-bug."

Most of the class burst into laughter while a few also climbed onto their desk. Kurama didn't move when a few guys approached him from behind to stare at the 'bug.' They swiftly returned to their desks, though, out of fear of the large insect.

As Kurama stared the ant demon down, he thought about everything he knew about them. To see one alone was rare; they usually inhabited large buildings, with a queen in the middle being heavily protected. They always came in swarms, rather than venturing out alone.

Kurama felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. That meant there was probably a lot more somewhere around the building. If bitten by one of these demonic ants, a demon would suffer from nausea, fever, and temporary paralysis. The poison wasn't fatal, but was painful to pass. In a human, the effects were probably amplified, but still not fatal.

A girl in the back of the classroom screamed suddenly. Everyone turned around and almost instantly started panicking. "There's more back here!" someone shouted.

Kurama shook his head to clear his thoughts and grabbed his Algebra book, slamming it down on the demon. It died with a tiny shriek. Fortunately, the things weren't hard to kill, but they could be a nuisance if they bit you.

The redhead snapped his fingers in an effort to regain his teacher's attention. "Mr. Yakanawa, I recognize that…bug. They come in swarms and can be highly poisonous. We have to evacuate the school."

Mr. Yakanawa stared at him blankly, "Wha…?"

With a frustrated growl, Kurama scanned the classroom full of rapidly panicking children. Spotting the fire alarm, Kurama made his way to it and pulled it decisively. He immediately started directing his classmates out.

Once the classroom was almost empty Kurama became aware of some clacking noises behind him. He whirled around, his hand drawn to his hair. Three _Akaiari _approached him.  
Swiftly pulling out his rose seed, he transformed it into a very thorny rose with an elongated stem, before his spirit energy failed him completely.

Throwing a glance over his shoulder as he retreated revealed that the classroom was empty. With a kick he knocked over a desk and crushed two of them.

Turning around Kurama fled the room, cursing his uselessness. After he made sure the building was evacuated he needed to return to his home. He'd also need to find Hiei so that he could cleanse the building.

In the hallway, people were rushing towards the doors. Kurama flattened himself against the wall to avoid being caught in the waves of panicking students. As the last remnants of the people came by, the redhead noticed the sense of urgency increase.

A girl towards the back collapsed with a cry. A male stopped as well, but the rest of the crowd turned into a stampede. Kurama made his way to the fallen student. She was already pale and slightly feverish from the fast-acting poison. The boy looked slightly sick; beneath his foot were sticky, green remains of a _Akaiari_.

He recognized the girl from one of his classes, Shioko. She gasped when she saw him. "Shuichi, it bit me!" Her eyes widened as she spouted, "I can't feel my legs!"

The boy, Kinzo, turned at Shioko's gasp and let out one of his own, "Shuichi!" Shioko suddenly passed out and Kinzo caught her automatically.

Kurama knelt by the girl. "We have to get her out of here," he commanded. "She needs to get to the hospital."

Kinzo nodded. As he lifted her, Kurama looked up and felt the smallest inkling of dread. There were _hundreds_ of them, all coming steadily closer with their clacking mandibles. "Come on. Hurry!"

With Kinzo's assistance they quickly fled the building. Kurama and Kinzo were instructed by some teachers to see the paramedics, where they relinquished Shioko to them. Kurama managed to evade the paramedics probing fingers as they checked to see if he was hurt. Outside was a madhouse. Kurama's green eyes scanned the lawn where parents were embracing their children and the parents of those who had bitten with fear in their eyes were being directed to the hospital.

"Shuichi!"

Kurama turned around and braced himself as his mother threw herself in his arms anxiously. "Oh Shuichi! I came as soon as I heard. Are you alright? Were you bitten? You look pale. Perhaps we should go to the hospital. They say those bugs are poisonous. Do you feel nauseous? Let's go see a paramedic. You—"

"Mother, I'm fine," he insisted, cutting off her flow of words.

She embraced him again, "I was so worried. I suppose I shouldn't have been. You are a very resourceful boy. Always have been." She stopped back and looked into Kurama's eyes. "Let's go home. They say they're shutting down the school until those ants are exterminated."

Inwardly, Kurama sighed in relief. "Yes, let's. Today has been very trying." He allowed his mother to drag him to car. The car ride was filled with Shiori's chatter as she continued to make sure Kurama was unharmed.

While Kurama waited for his mother to open the door, his guard plant reached out and brushed his fingers. _One human passed. Access allowed. One demon passed. Access allowed._

Kurama frowned. That didn't make a lot of sense. There were five humans allowed to enter his home and one demon. Regardless, Hiei would _never_ use the front door unless something had happened to the tree outside his window. The redhead sighed at the formation of a headache. He really needed to get to his garden. He'd figure it out later.

Inside the house, Shiori turned to face him, her hands on her hips. She opened her mouth to question him again, no doubt. He cut her off.

"Why don't you get changed out of your clothes into something more comfortable and I'll fix us some tea?"

She looked at him doubtfully. "Are you sure? You _do_ look really pale."

He nodded. "I'm positive. I'm just a little shaken up, which will be cured with a nice cup of tea in the garden."

She smiled, "Okay, if you're sure." With another encouraging nod she went up the stairs as Kurama went into the kitchen. He decided to bypass the tea, his mother would understand, and go straight to the garden. He stopped halfway through the kitchen. Something had caught his attention, something that made his blood run cold.

0O0

Shiori walked up the stairs slowly. She knew there was something wrong with Shuichi. It couldn't be that he had been bitten by those bugs; he wouldn't lie about that. With a wry smile, she thought about all his other lies. Meiou didn't have school trips.

Her hands hovered inches above her doorknob when her eyes narrowed. She heard voices coming from Shuu's room. Walking over she put her ear against the door and listened.

"What are you talking about?" She recognized that voice as Shuu's.

"I'm telling you there are other humans here," a deeper, raspier male voice said with a growl.

"…Nah," he said after a minute. "My dad never leaves work early. Shuichi's at school; he'd never skip and my…and Shiori wouldn't leave for anything other than Shuichi. Hey! That's mine!"

"You offered me some!"

"Yeah, like an hour ago! The offer is off the table," Shuu said with laughter in his voice. "Go make your own."

"You know I can't touch your human stove thingy!" Shiori frowned at the stranger's wording.

A moment of silence and then, "You _touch_ed my food."

"Yeah, like I said you offered…oh. Oh. _Oh. _Hey you're right!"

"Does that mean you're not a ghost anymore?"

"I already told you. I'm not a ghost I'm—" He stopped talking. There were a couple minutes of silence that seemed like an eternity to Shiori when the door was opened abruptly.

Shuu gasped and caught her before she went tumbling into him. "Shiori! What are you doing here?"

She straightened quickly, "I should be asking you that. I'd also like to know who's in there with you."

Shuu's eyes widened, "You heard? I was, uh—" Something crashed downstairs. Frowning, Shiori turned around and went back down the stairs. After a moment Shuu followed. "It might be a burglar. Do you think we should call the police?" She didn't respond.

They entered the living room and found it empty. It was eerily quiet. Shuu picked up the cordless phone but didn't dial anything. "It sounded like it came from the kitchen," he whispered.

Shiori suppressed the shiver of dread. Perhaps Shuichi had dropped something when he was making the tea? She quickly entered the kitchen and at first she didn't see anything. She walked around the table and found Shuichi sitting against the cabinets, a wilted, potted plant in his hand.

Glancing at Shuu, who stood in the doorway looking at Shuichi oddly, Shiori walked over to her son and sat next to him. The redhead didn't stir as he continued to stare at the plant.

"Shuichi," she said softly, "what's wrong?"

He slowly raised his eyes to hers and her breath caught at his bleak gaze. "It's dead," he said in a monotone.

"…Yes," she agreed after a moment's hesitation.

He returned his gaze to the dead plant and sighed, almost wistfully. "It's dead," he said again. Then he slumped over, unconscious.

"Shuichi!" Shiori called as she leaned over the redhead. "Shuichi!" She touched his face and jerked back with a gasp. He was burning up! He started coughing and blood splattered the tiles. Her eyes wide she glanced at Shuu, "Call 911!"

Breaking out of his trance the brunette started dialing. She tossed the wilted rose aside as she hovered worriedly over her unconscious son. She bit her lip. Please be okay, she mentally prayed.

* * *

**Word Count:** 3335 Long I know, but when inspiration hits, it doesn't pull its punches.

* * *

**Notes: **Thanks to Yoneko Kimishima for beta-ing this. I really appreciate it.

* * *


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